The biggest con in sports

I was in a math class in Austin, Texas in 1999. The professor was a cynical Frenchman who had no issues criticizing America and Americans as the French tend to do sometimes. In a whimsical remark, the professor attacked a local hero who had become the toast of the world. He said he didn’t believe that the winner of the Tour de France could have won without doping.

By this time, Lance Armstrong was the most inspiring story in sports. Attack an American hero and you will pay. The students, expectedly, unleashed on the professor.

For the next 13 years, the man who survived testicular cancer and won one of the most physically grueling athletic events in the world a record seven times redefined what it meant to be a “fighter”. There wasn’t a person in the world, sports fan or not, who didn’t know who he was. That is a pretty big achievement for a cyclist. It’s not a sport that everyone follows and yet this humble Texan had put both cycling and himself on the map in a big way.

The real story was not his victories; it was what he symbolized. He became the poster child for a disease that has impacted most people in the world either directly or indirectly. He took on cancer, started the Lance Armstrong foundation, raised awareness and gave people suffering from the disease the belief that a lot could still be achieved.

The dream: he was the most inspiring and socially impactful story in sports history.

The reality: he was a cheat.

Lets be clear. Lance didn’t just take steroids – he was the leader of a ring of steroid users that infiltrated cycling to a greater degree than any other sport has been with regard to banned substances.

He didn’t win because he had beaten cancer and its impact on his physical abilities; he won because he took performance-enhancing drugs.

For me, Lance Armstrong wasn’t great because he raised millions for cancer research and foundations. He was great because as an athlete, his achievements were some of the greatest in all sport. He was great because he was an inspiration to those with diseases, handicaps, injuries and personal issues. He defined what we could all achieve if we didn’t let our setbacks hold us down.

He sent a message to people around the world: “If Lance can beat cancer and win the Tour de France, then I can achieve something too”

Who is he inspiring now? What is his message today? Dope – it’s the only way to win?

This is the bigger tragedy. Performance enhancing drugs are part of sports; they have been for some time now and will continue to be. But he’s not just another Ben Johnson or Barry Bonds. He claimed to be more; he claimed to be someone you believed in, and millions did believe. He’s the guy you’d look to for motivation – the guy whose poster you'd hang on the wall of your hospital bed as you underwent chemotherapy. Just ask Yuvraj Singh about one of his main sources of inspiration during his recent battle with cancer.

It was, of course, a scam.

Lance denied allegations for years and still does. But when the evidence against him was too strong, he decided to stop fighting. The guy who fought cancer and won a 3500 km race decided he couldn’t fight the media and anti-doping authorities anymore? Really?

In the past 25 years, we’ve witnessed steroids, match fixing, recreational drug use and much more. Yet, there has never been a bigger con in sports than Lance Armstrong.